Sunday, April 29, 2012

North Korean Elite Enjoy Good Life in Capital

Supply Networks Evade Embargo on Luxury Goods

Nuclear-armed North Korea has been under heavy sanctions for years but there is little sign of any effect on the elite in Pyongyang, who enjoy unfettered access to upmarket cars and consumer goods.

The economy of the isolated North--where famine killed hundreds of thousands in the 1990s--is widely believed to be battered and stuttering, but the luxury shops of the showcase capital tell a different story….

And outside Pyongyang is another country--one where, according to the UN, a third of under-fives still suffer from chronic malnutrition and an entire generation is stunted in growth after the 1990s famine.